Ysengrimus

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As Ysengrimus (Isengrimus, -grinus) one is medium-Latin animal epic called, which was created in the mid-12th century (probably 1148/49), probably written by a cleric in Ghent .

Authorship

In later manuscripts the epic is ascribed to a Nivardus , a Balduinus Cecus and a Bernardus. The author's name Nivardus was known to researchers for the longest time, as the other two names were discovered late. That is why Nivardus is still often mentioned as the author's name, despite the uncertain attribution.

The text itself contains many references that suggest that Ysengrimus was composed by a cleric in Flanders (probably Ghent ) in the middle of the 12th century . Among others, Bernhard von Clairvaux , Anselm ( Bishop of Tournai ) and the Blandinium monastery near Ghent are mentioned and the failure of the second crusade is lamented.

Content and tradition

Renart (left) defeats Ysengrim (right) . Miniature from the Renart le Nouvel by Jacquemart Gielée; Manuscript, around 1290/1300. BNF , Paris, Ms fr. 1581f. 6v

The epic is written in elegiac distiches and consists of almost 6600 verses. The main character is the wolf Ysengrimus, whose name was therefore used as the title. His opponent is the fox Reinardus, who brings about the gradual demise of the wolf. The Ysengrimus is therefore the first work in which the wolf and fox bear their later popular fable names Isegrim and Reinhart or Reineke .

Characterized as stupid and greedy, the wolf is outwitted by the cunning, devious fox in about a dozen episodes and is ultimately killed. The material draws on older narrative material ( Aesopian and medieval animal fables, the Ecbasis captivi , the collection of sayings and stories Fecunda ratis Egberts von Lüttich , the text De lupo from around 1100 ). Only the conclusion (death of the wolf by a herd of pigs) is an addition by the author, probably based on the Vita Mahumeti of the Embrichos of Mainz .

The main achievement of the poet consists in the composition of a self-contained epic, which artfully combined the various individual elements from the fable and animal poetry that was available in writing or orally at the time. In contrast to the ancient or medieval heroic epic, the protagonist in Ysengrimus is a negative figure, rightly destined to fall. By repeatedly presenting the greedy and stupid wolf as a monk and holder of spiritual dignity, the author caricatures the monasticism of his time, which in his opinion was in many respects worthy of criticism. In addition to many other motifs, for example the pairs of opposites “gate and wise man”, “poor and rich” or the Fortuna motif, the anti-clerical satire is the predominant theme of poetry.

The work is pervaded by irony and characterized by a punchy linguistic style, lively expression with a combination of folk drama and classical education. The text later served as a supplier of proverbs ( Florilegien ) and animal pans that were used in other animal poems (for example in the Roman de Renart and through further mediation, including the Central Dutch animal poem Van den vos Reynaerde , in the Reineke Fuchs ). A repositioning of the fourth and fifth episodes, called Ysengrimus abbreviatus , is regarded as a somewhat clumsy work in research and dates back to the end of the 13th century at the earliest. This abridged version also contributed to the spread of the work.

The animal pos has come down to us in 17 manuscripts, but only four of them provide the full text.

Editions and translations

Ysengrimus abbreviatus :

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hs. Des Florilegium Gallicum (Berlin State Library, cod. Diez . B. Santen, 60, 5th - 13th / 14th century), extracts from Ysengrimus are titled "magister Niuardus de Ysengrino et reinardo"; see the entry in Ursula Winter's manuscript catalog
  2. ↑ Paris, Bibl. Nat., Cod. lat. 16708, on page 26v it says "Flosculi Balduini Ceci"
  3. ↑ Berlin State Library, cod. Phillipps 1827 (= Latin 193), 25v: "Proverbia Bernardi", cf. the entry in Valentin Rose's manuscript catalog .